BY DON FINEFROCK

 A prominent Miami businessman criticized his fellow Cuban Americans on Thursday, saying the community had mishandled the custody battle over Elian Gonzalez and alienated other Americans who might have supported the cause.

 Developer Armando Codina shared his views with Gov. Jeb Bush, his former partner, and other business leaders during a meeting at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Bush was in town to urge the community to remain calm.

 Although Codina said he supports the Miami family's effort to keep the boy in the United States, he said missteps in that campaign had cost the Cuban-American community the support of others in Miami and elsewhere.

 ``We have not handled it very well, he said. ``This family has been very ill-advised.

 Codina did not mention anyone by name. But the family has been advised throughout the custody battle by Miami political consultant Armando Gutierrez. Gutierrez, reached at home, deflected the criticism, saying it is easy to be a Monday morning quarterback.

 ``It's damned if you do and damned if you don't, he said.

 `HIDEOUS' VIDEOTAPE

 Codina pointed to the videotape of Elian, released to the media by Gutierrez, that showed the 6-year-old boy wagging his finger at his father and saying he did not want to go back to Cuba.

 The chairman and chief executive of the Codina Group called the videotape ``hideous. The performance may have played well among Cuban Americans but it alienated others, Codina said.

 Gutierrez said the family made the decision to release the tape.

 Codina also criticized the government for seizing the boy, saying he disagreed with the armed raid on the Gonzalez family home.

 But he said the tactics adopted by the Miami family and its advisors left Attorney General Janet Reno with no choice. Lazaro Gonzalez had said the government would have to take his great-nephew by force.

 ``You do not defy the attorney general of this United States, Codina said in an interview after the meeting. ``That is not acceptable.

 Codina said he does not blame the family for the mistakes, but rather the family's advisors, who are more schooled in such things.

 ``I am distraught about what this has done to this community, he said.

 BUSH SPEAKS OUT

 The governor also expressed concern.

 Bush spent the morning meeting with police officials and exile leaders before arriving at the chamber of commerce. He called for calm on Saturday, when protesters plan to march down Southwest Eighth Street in Little Havana to register their discontent.

 Bush said protesters need to keep the demonstration peaceful for the sake of the community, and to counteract negative images of Miami that are being fueled by Washington officials who want to justify the surprise raid.

 ``The picture that is being painted is an unstable Miami, the governor said, ``a Miami that cannot control itself.

 The governor also appealed to community leaders to end the rancor that has characterized the tug of war over Elian.

 ``We need to begin the healing process, he said.

 But one business leader said it is too soon to start mending fences.

 ``What we have seen in this community is enormous hatred, said Carlos Saladrigas of ADP Totalsource, who was inside the Gonzalez house at the time of the raid trying to negotiate a resolution to the standoff.

 Community leaders can speculate about the causes of that hatred -- Saladrigas said there is plenty of blame to go around -- but the businessman said things won't improve until that hatred is fully aired.

 ``No one is showing the courage to dig deep into the wound, he said. ``The only way to deal with this is very openly. It is going to hurt like hell.

 HAITIAN CONCERNS

 Bush also heard Thursday from Haitian Americans who said their concerns about federal immigration law had been ignored by the larger community.

 Marie Bell of the Society of Haitian American Professionals said she was sad that ``it took one little boy to put a face on immigration. Bell attended the meeting at the chamber of commerce.

 Haitian Americans feel disenfranchised, she said, but if they dared to call a work stoppage, as Cuban Americans did this week, they would lose their jobs.

 ``We don't have the power structure to do that, she said.

 Pedro Freyre, chairman of Facts About Cuban Exiles, said Cuban Americans learned a lesson in humility on Saturday that should make them more sensitive to other minorities.

 ``We don't have anywhere near the power we thought we had, Freyre said. ``We are feeling disenfranchised.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald